How to Re-Download Lion From the Mac App Store

Wednesday July 25, 2012 3:52 PM PDT by Jordan Golson

Macworldpoints out that with the launch of OS X Mountain Lion today, Apple has seemingly removed OS X Lion from the Mac App Store. However, users can re-download it -- and then create a Recovery USB Key -- if they have already purchased it.

Folks who already bought Lion can in fact re-download it, if they hold down Option when clicking on the Purchased tab. That secret shortcut makes Lion reappear in the list.

With the Option key trick, customers who own Lion and, for whatever reason, want to install it fresh on a compatible Mac, can do so.

Customers who never purchased Lion are out of luck as far as the App Store goes, though the OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive is still available via the Apple Online Store for $69.

Top Rated Comments

Very strange decision if you ask me. Since the App Store is the only place where you can get Lion, people with systems that haven’t been upgraded before and are not eligible for Mountain Lion are basically stuck, unless they get it from other sources. Is this Apple’s way of saying ‘we don’t care about you anyway’? Even this option-click method to download it again appears to be more than a hidden way than an obvious solution, clearly to prevent inexperienced users from finding it. It feels as if Apple is trying to cut the cords as much as possible.

so with ML, OS updates will be done through the MAS right? So when ML gets removed with the release of 10.9 does that mean no more updates?

They'll probably just hide the purchase link like they did with Lion :P You can still get updates, just like you always have, without actually needing to go into the apps' individual page; it will just show up in the software update location.

No matter what they might call it, selling fresh copies of old software implies that they're obligated to support it. And I bet you'd see lawsuits insisting on it. No consumer expects to have a dead version with security updates if they bought it yesterday from the company what made it.

And seriously, ML is $20, L was $30, SL was $30. What exactly is a discount price? We're not talking $150 upgrades anymore. It's all hardware subsidies now.

Finally, because you seem to have forgotten, Apple is the closed sales loop. They have everything to gain from encouraging you upgrade hardware, and no reason to care if you choose not to.

Isn't there some kind of aftermarket for developer seeded OSX builds? Or did they solve that problem? :)

Apple already has a well-established business model for selling older versions of its hardware and the software that's on them, and you can find it in the Clearance and Refurbished sections of the Apple Store. So extending that model to the App Store would be well within the bounds of Apple's retail tradition. Apple will continue to support Lion for at least the next year and Apple can still make money selling Lion to all of those users who can't upgrade to Mountain Lion. Plus, since Apple wouldn't have to produce and ship hard disks, keeping Lion available as a download on the App Store would cost Apple virtually nothing. Surely Apple can have the App Store detect when a Mac that accesses it can't upgrade to ML, and for those Macs the App Store can still stock Lion, not forever, but at least for a reasonable amount of time to give users who were caught off guard by the new requirements of ML a chance to upgrade legally.

Does anyone agree with me that this makes sense, as it reduces consumer confusion?

I find that argument unconvincing. There would have been other methods to make customers aware of the difference, like an overview page or a pop up if customers attempt to download it, although they could get Mountain Lion instead. They could also just hide it entirely when the App Store detects that the customer’s Mac is capable of running Mountain Lion. These are all other options Apple could have taken to ensure that customers get the latest software, but don’t leave existing customers with Snow Leopard.

so with ML, OS updates will be done through the MAS right? So when ML gets removed with the release of 10.9 does that mean no more updates?

I don't have Mountain Lion yet as I'm still awaiting my upgrade key, but I'm sure that whenever 10.9 is released, 10.8 users will still be able to get updates through the App Store. They can't just leave older users out in the cold.

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